Daytona 500 TV rating higher than last year

Yesterday's 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Fox scored increased average audience, total audience and household ratings compared to a year ago, according to fast national figures released today by Nielsen Media Research. The 50th Daytona 500 earned a 10.2/20 household rating/share and averaged 17.8 million viewers, and both the rating and average audience are Ã-1% better than a year ago (10.1/20, 17.5 million).

It was also the second highest-rated and second most-watched 500 ever on Fox, trailing the 2005 race in both stats. 33.5 million Americans watched at least part of the Great American Race, a Ã-2% improvement over 2007's 33.0 million. The Daytona 500 remains far and away the top-rated event in American motorsports.

Yesterday's race more than doubled the rating of last year's Indianapolis 500 (Ã-137% vs. 4.3/12). Fox's improved Daytona 500 rating completed a Speedweeks "triple play" as the Daytona 500 (Ã-1%), Daytona Pole Qualifying (Ã-4%), and Budweiser Shootout (Ã-6%) all posted gains over the same events in 2007. This is the first time that all of Fox's Speedweeks programming has boasted a year-to-year increase. Fox PR